


DCBN With a Happier Ending (Dark as Coffee, Black as Night)

by LoloxTheMuffin



Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, light Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29054724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoloxTheMuffin/pseuds/LoloxTheMuffin
Summary: With permission from the original author, I have edited and added my own ending to their work titled 'Dark as Coffee, Black as Night.' I suggest that you read that one first so you have some fluff to sooth the lovely angst. <3When practicing his magic, something goes wrong for Espresso Cookie and Madeleine has to save him.All characters except for the first three tagged only show up once.
Relationships: Madeleine Cookie/Espresso Cookie (Cookie Run)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	DCBN With a Happier Ending (Dark as Coffee, Black as Night)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarryFiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryFiction/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Dark as Coffee, Black as Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042040) by [StarryFiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryFiction/pseuds/StarryFiction). 



> This work isn't completely written by me, as I edited what they had already written to try and harmonize it with my writing style and characterization of Espresso and Madeleine. The only part of this fic that is completely of my own words is the ending, so this fic won't feel quite like my nor StarryFiction's writing.
> 
> I didn’t want the transition to my fan-endings to be too abrupt so many of the words and phrases have been changed while still keeping the same general meaning. I also kept all events in the same order as in the original fic. I hope that my efforts paid off well!
> 
> Espresso and Madeleine are fiancés in this fic.

Dark magic filled the scene deep within the forest, winding playfully around foliage and the very caster of it. Espresso was familiar with it, as the very spells he cast so effortlessly through his hands were of the type. The very nature of his magic was often compared to that of black magic despite its lack of despicable intent. Dark magic wasn’t the same as black magic, for black magic was the kind that only evil witches and the invading foriegn armies of the Enchantress used. Dark magic was magic used for good, a breed that spawned progress and amiable life. Though its visuals may not be as appealing as that of light magic, many who prosper looking into dark magic will find that it can be the most powerful magic of all.

Espresso wielded the darkness skillfully as he almost… danced, as his fiancé would call it, around the forest clearing. Whenever he’d practice, or simply toy with it, he’d retreat to the same part in the depths of the woods. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the usual child or common cookie thought of dark magic as evil was the reason for such escape, or perhaps it was for his better focus. Either way, Espresso never stayed on kingdom grounds to practice his craft.

The mage didn’t fear being so far away from other cookies for so long. If any cake hounds, hogs, or other monsters attacked him, he’d always have his magic to defend himself with. No monsters could match a well focused mage, after all. And, even if Espresso did feel like he’d be overpowered, he’d have backup. A promise his love had made with him.

Madeleine, his knight; friend; and lover, promised the dark mage that, if he ever felt overpowered or in need of help, to call out to him. No matter where he was, the light would come to help the darkness.

And Espresso kept that promise in mind wherever he went. He wasn’t sure how but… he had faith that his fiancé could fulfill it.

Within the current moment, dark magic was being skillfully wisped around by the mage. Espresso was simply refining his individual targeting, something he didn’t usually do as his main offense in battle was to hit every target at once. And that was when he saw an aura of… something, just barely in his peripheral vision. “And what do we have here..?” He muttered, turning his head to see more clearly. Through the trees of the woods, he could see… magic? He adjusted his glasses, and sure enough, a smog of purple magic was intertwining itself around the trees. “How curious… could this be poison magic, or dark magic..?” The mage wondered, taking a few slow steps forward as if talking to the magic itself. He kept himself ready to cast a protection spell if need be, considering it could be poison magic. Or, perhaps, if there was magic going around freely, whoever sent it out could have ill intent.

The purple cloud wizzed into the clearing, darting past Espresso’s back. He turned around, and the ball of magic stopped while remaining airborne, hovering in a strange stasis. He pressed his glasses further up against his face and examined it closer. “Dark magic...” He identified it easily with a better view. But what could stray dark magic be doing all the way out there? Could he have accidentally let some of his wander and not noticed? The dark mage extended his hand out, and the aura didn’t hesitate to bolt forward and start wisping around his hand. “Hm… certainly seems like mine.” He knew from study that magic wasn’t sentient, but at the same time, it seemed like it had a mind of its own. Magic is bound to a cookie’s soul, so naturally any loose magic is attracted to the cookie it came from, and Espresso chalked it up to him having missed a little bit that had escaped.

As the magic surrounded his hand and rested in his palm, he expected it to fade into him and return to his soul. What he didn’t expect was to hear the faintest, childish snickering come from the forest behind him. “You big fool… ehehe…”

Espresso held in a gasp, his next breath coming in sharp. He slowly turned his head to peer over his shoulder, and when he had to look down to fully see the voice’s source, he knew immediately just which cookie it was. Lowering his narrowed gaze, he spoke flatly, “Poison Mushroom Cookie.”

“Yeees, that’s me… heehee…” The small cookie, most definitely a corrupted child in Espresso’s eyes, put their hands in front of their mouth and laughed. “Heehee… And that’s also myyyy maaaagic~!” They broke into hysterical giggles, smiling widely.

The dark mage's heart stopped in his chest. He had oh-so-foolishly forgotten that black magic could be easily disguised as dark magic. He felt something curl around his hand, and he quickly averted his gaze to find that there was nothing held within his palm.

He had absorbed the black magic.

Or more… the corrupt magic had forced itself into him.

He could feel the evil magic strike like lightning inside him. It burned, but felt cold and desolate at the same time; a terrible, wretched feeling seeking to take over his own magic and take the dark mage’s soul. He was defenseless against it as it writhed within.

Feeling his consciousness fading, Espresso called out, tone spiking as his throat constricted, “Madeleine-!” He gripped the fabric of his cloak collar, as if it would somehow ease the rising discomfort. “Madelle!” He cried again, weaker, vision dimming as the world closed in like a pair of heavy velvet curtains. His magical book slipped from his already loosened grasp as he fell back, barely processing the brief shock from hitting the ground.

From there, his senses deserted him, and his spirit of darkness turned midnight black, with not a star to be seen.

* * *

Madeleine was allowing himself a well-deserved break in the kingdom village. Leaning confidently against a wall, he wore a characteristically cocky smirk paired with closed eyes as Clover Cookie strummed on his lute. The knight had just returned from a quest with Chili Pepper, Rye, Milk, and Custard the Third, and he decided a good way to relax in the meantime till when his fiancé got back from the forest was to listen to the humble musician’s songs. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who thought Clover’s tunes were a joy, as Herb Cookie sat around too, looking dreamily up at the playing cookie with a dorky smile on his face. Madeleine didn’t pay either of the two green cookies any mind.

The valiant cookie’s eyes shot open suddenly, body seizing up as if it had been shocked. “Espresso?” He murmured aloud to the air, looking into the distance at the entrance to the forest on the other side of the village.

Clover, pausing his playing, looked over at Madeleine; Herb also looked over at the knight. “Whatever do you mean, Madeleine? Espresso isn’t in the village right now.” The lute player asked.

The warrior of light didn’t seem to pay attention to either of them. “Espresso-?” He asked again.

Something was wrong. He could feel it. This something was calling to him, and it meant that something had happened to his love.

“Sir Madeleine, Espresso is out in the forest right now. He’s practicing his magic…” Herb said, yet again being ignored.

Madeleine summoned his light sword in his hand and held it to his side. Something was wrong with Espresso.

“I must go. Something is wrong, I can feel it.” He said, and before either plant cookies could respond, he ran off.

Clover and Herb watched him run into the distance, before turning to each other. “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing…” The gardener mumbled, holding his plant slightly closer to himself.

“He's the head knight… I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Clover spoke a rhyme, intentionally or not. Herb looked up at Clover and smiled slightly, relaxing a little as he was comforted by the lute player’s reassuring nature.

* * *

The knight’s greaves crushed the grass and twigs beneath him as Madeleine ran through the grove, thoughts travelling quickly and stumbling over one another. Even so, one objective stood encountered at the forefront of his mind; he had to get to Espresso.

Madeleine knew the exact clearing where his fiancé went to spellcast based on the couple times he’d been with his lover there. The forest was thick and the sun could barely shine through at times, but nothing. Not a damn thing in this world was gonna stop him from helping his love.

Turning swiftly around the trees, Madeleine skidded a little as he found himself finally at the clearing. Patches of uncrushed grass waved idly in the gentle breeze, as did the branches that sprawled above his head, interlocking like support beams in a grand cathedral ceiling. His ears strained to listen, but nothing graced his ears; not his lover’s voice or even the wild songs of birds. “No… no…” his whisper was hushed beyond being audible as denial bubbled within his chest.

“Espresso? Espresso!?” Running blindly into the heart of the clearing with his teeth clenched so tightly they could have cracked, he searched for any signs of recent activity. The clearing was in the corner of the woods, an unclimbable wall of mountain on one side and a cliff down the edge on the other. Espresso had clearly been here at some point judging by the freshly imprinted places in the dirt where his boots had been, but he was nowhere to be found. “Espresso, where are you!?” Madeleine yelled out again, feeling his heart drop in his chest. Rushing, he was tripped and fell to his unarmoured knees. Getting back up, he looked down at the bound item laying abandoned at his feet. Less curious about what he hit and hoping more it wouldn’t take him long to examine, he ran his gloved hands across the dirty cover, not minding the dust gathering on his pristine white gloves. It was a dark brown spellbook. Espresso’s dark brown spellbook. Discarded in the dirt.

Madeleine didn’t hesitate to bend over and pick it up, shaking and then brushing more debris off of the cover. It was definitely Espresso’s personal spellbook, complete with his symbol on it. His posture slackened and a smile graced his face before immediately turning into a grimace. Espresso was nearby, yes… but… why would his precious spellbook be discarded on the ground?

The warrior of light bit back his worry and put on a look of determination, tucking the spellbook into a small satchel that he wore, a gift from Rye. Without wasting a second, he started sprinting forward. If Espresso was out there, Madeleine was going to find him. And the knight wouldn’t stop until he did.

But… he had no real path, did he? Madeleine felt that he was strong enough to protect himself in the deep forest, but if something happened to… no. He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and continued running. He didn’t care that he ran aimlessly. He’ll run until he finds Espresso, no matter how far that run is.

And it seems Espresso came to him.

Madeleine couldn’t hear any other footsteps over the heavy ones of his greaves. A faint voice sounded from behind as a whispery, alluring call, “How nice of you to join me, Madeleine…”

He was head knight. He knew better than to turn around if mysterious voices whispered to him. But… when the mystery voice in question sounds just like that of your lover, you couldn’t help but be foolish.

Madeleine spun so quickly that his gigantic ponytail near whacked him in his face. There stood a figure covered in layered curtains of dark fabric, wearing familiar rimmed glasses. “Espresso!” He yelled, barely getting a good look at his fiancé before going in to hug him. “You had me scared back there lo- ack-!” Feeling his partner tense at the contact, the mage roughly shoved him away, using enough force to knock the warrior of light to the ground.

With a velvety air concentrated with a most unwelcome growl, Espresso stood over his fallen friend. “I advise you to leave before I need to make you.” Madeleine looked up at his lover, a mix of shock and concern on his face. Now that he looked up at Espresso, he noticed something he’d missed.

The dark mage's eyes… were purple. Not a dark purple that could be mistaken for his normal deep brown eyes, but a bright purple. It was not a trick of the light, or a strange reflection in the mage’s large glasses.

A poisonous purple.

“Espresso..?” he lifted his torso from the earth and began to stand, never averting his gaze from his fiancé’s face. “What happened to you..?” Something happened to Espresso. Something was wrong.

Madeleine was a fool to ask.

“Gah-!” In the blink of an eye, the mage was over his fiancé.

He had his foot resting on the knight’s chest, and he was pressing down harder in the following seconds, impairing the already quick breathing of his lover. “I told you to go. How much of a fool are you to not run when someone warns you?” Espresso chastised, lips peeled back in a most disgusted expression. His eyes held no sign of the love that used to live there, instead replaced with a stinging venom that stabbed at Maddie’s heart.

Having a sick guess that he wouldn’t have much left within the following moments, Madeleine attempted to keep his breathing steady despite the weight on his chest. “Espresso…” He wheezed, “What are you doing..?” His words came slowly as the knight’s thoughts struggled to gripe with the current situation. That wasn’t Espresso. He knew it wasn’t Espresso. But he wished it was.

Granting a pause, Espresso hissed, his voice fluctuating with special intention, “I’ll give you ten seconds to run. If you’re so foolish as to stick around to your last breath, then so be it.” With that, he shifted his weight slightly more onto Madeleine’s chest. “Ten.” He began.

Madeleine took in a heavy, weighted breath. Was that… really happening? “E-Essy-“ He wheezed out, “If this is a joke, it’s not funny-“

“Nine.” The addressed cookie counted down again, pushing the heel of his boot even more into his fiancés chest.

Looking up into his now purple eyes, Madeleine tried to see some remnant of mercy in Espresso.

He saw no such thing. “Love- you can't- do this-!” He wheezed out again, before attempting to take in another breath.

He couldn’t fill his lungs with air before the dark mage put more weight into his heel, pressing into his chest with enough air to knock the wind out of him. “Eight.” Madeleine looked up pitifully at his lover. Espresso had no sign of emotion, not pity, not mercy, nothing in his expression. There was seemingly no way the warrior of light could talk the corrupted dark mage out of proceeding. With each passing second, the tone of his lover seemed to flatten further. “Seven.” Mercilessly counting down, pressing his boot further into Madeleine’s chest. Madeleine could barely breathe by that point, and the pressure on his chest was starting to hurt more and more. But nothing could hurt him more than staring into Espresso’s cold, dead eyes. “Six.” Synchronized with his words, the dark mage pushed down only stronger. Madeleine was ripped from his absent, betrayed thoughts as he felt the red hot pain of Espresso’s heel digging into his abdomen. He didn’t want to hurt his fiancé. But, judging by their positions, that could be the only way to get him off. “Five.” As the halfway mark arrived, Madeleine heard it. Cracking.

The cracking of the front of his rib cage was starting to break beneath the pressure.

And when the pain and reality set in,

The warrior of light kicked his corrupt lover away,

Stumbled,

And ran.

And the last thing he heard-

“Go! And don’t come back!”

* * *

Madeleine wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been running for until he collapsed. All he knew was that his heart hurt, and his legs and chest ached. He was still struggling to acknowledge that the whole encounter was real. It wasn’t, right? He’d go back to the kingdom, and his dear Essy would be there, wondering where Madel was after an afternoon's practice, holding a freshly brewed coffee with arms open for an embrace.

But the sharp pain in his chest forced him to realize that the whole situation was all too real. That had just happened. And his lover would not be waiting for him back at the kingdom.

His lover was still wandering the woods, corrupted by means unknown to Madeleine.

The warrior of light hadn’t a clue how far from the kingdom he was. His body ached too much to even think too hard about it.

“Oh my… are you okay, dear warrior..?” A voice came from the woods. But the knight knew better now not to address it. He stayed silent and put, heaving heavy breaths. “Madeleine Cookie…” When he realized the soft voiced character knew his name, he looked up. And he gasped at the woman he saw.

“White Lily Cookie..!” He recited the name he’d only ever heard before, never having seen its wearer yet.

The ancient cookie leaned down in front of Madeleine. “Dear knight, are you injured..? What has happened to you?” She asked again, now knowing she had his attention.

“Madame Lily… Espresso Cookie’s been corrupted by black magic.” He paused to breathe before deciding his lover was more important than his own pain.

“Espresso Cookie..? The dark mage..?” White Lily continued, seeming to miss that Madeleine was avoiding the question. When she got a nod back, she covered her mouth. “Oh my… I should’ve known something was awry when I saw Poison Mushroom Cookie wandering around…”

Madeleine was lifting himself to his knees with his sword when he gasped. “Poison Mushroom? That little kid corrupted Essy?!” He yelled, almost thinking that Lily could be lying to him, before discarding the thought. Did White Lily even know how to lie..? According to what he had heard, she spoke nothing but the truth… 

The queen of no subjects nodded. “Yes… Poison Mushroom is a child of Dark Enchantress, it’s very possible they corrupted Espresso with their poisonous magic…” When she watched the warrior attempt to stand up, before clutching his chest, she asked again. “Madeleine Cookie, are you okay?”

He heaved a breath in, then sighed. “He attacked me while I was looking for him… I ran away from him and ran into you.” He explained, feeling his throat protest hotly as every inch of it burned. Lily put her hands over her mouth in pity, but Madeleine stopped her before she could say anything. “White Lily, do you know how to fix this..? Do you know how to get my Essy back?”

The queen took a breath, and then looked away. She had a look of mercy on her face, and seemed to be thinking hard. Finally deciding, she began slowly, “Dear warrior… have you ever heard the legend of Sea Fairy Cookie..?”

“Sea Fairy Cookie?” He questioned, and White Lily took another deep breath.

“The tale of the legendary Sea Fairy is sorrowful, but full of hope.” She waved her flower staff to the side as she recited the tale. “Cursed by Dark Enchantress, Sea Fairy was trapped in ice. The oceans froze over, causing panic and terror to the ancient cookie people. Her heart was frozen over, and it was believed that she, and the seas, would never unfreeze again. That was until every cookie in the kingdom united together to share their love; they spread joy to the hearts of each other, and spread it far and wide. Soon, it started reaching the frozen Sea Fairy Cookie. What finally unfroze the goddess, and the seas, was the help of the moon- the moon came down from the skies to help the sea, her love. With the warmth of every cookie's hearts, and her lover by her side, the goddess melted her icy chains.”

Lily rested her gaze back onto Madeleine, clearing her throat. Finished with her story, she noticed that he was staring wide-eyed. “Woah… what a tale…” White Lily nodded, “But, what does it have to do with uncorrupting Espresso?”

She sighed. “You have to be the one to set him free, Madeleine...”

“What?”

“If the sea was set free by the love of the moon, then Espresso can be set free by you. Use love like it’s a weapon…” She took a couple steps forward, standing tall over the warrior. “How much do you love him, Madeleine..?” Lily asked, knowing the question seemed obtuse, but also knowing she had to say it.

Madeleine raised his eyebrow. “A lot? Of course I love Essy, we’re engaged for god’s sake.” When the ex-queen narrowed her eyes, he realized that that wasn’t what she meant. Sighing, he went from the start, “I knew I liked Espresso from the day I met him… he scolded my light in a way nobody had ever put me down with before, and something about the way Essy was so… confident, yet seemingly so humbled too was annoying but… alluring.” He held his arm, continuing to ramble, not noticing how his form relaxed nor how a smile found its way into his features. “When I’d learnt about how the general public viewed dark magic compared to what it really like, and the difference between dark magic and black magic, I realized there was more to him than I-“ Madeleine stopped himself when he finally realized he was rambling. He looked up at Lily again and saw that she was smiling slightly.

“That is what I was asking for.” She said, putting her hands together in front of her. “It’s clear to me that you love your fiancé very much… enough to rid him of the poison that corrupted him.”

The warrior’s smile became more prominent for a moment before weakening. “How do I do that..?”

“Nobody knows quite what the moon did to set the sea free… but I believe you can find out what is right, sir Madeleine.” She smiled at Madeleine again. “Good luck.” He nodded at her, before turning away to run off- only to stop and wince at the strike in his chest that he’d forgotten was there.

“Oh Millennial Tree, I gotta go back to the kingdom and…” White Lily flicked her flower staff once, and suddenly, Madeleine could no longer feel the pain in his chest. He felt a wave of relief flood his muscles as her magic caressed his wounds and hoarse throat. “...heal..?” He looked over his shoulder and saw Lily again. She was smiling, and gave him a nod. He paused, but smiled and nodded back. And finally, he ran off to go find his lover in the woods again.

White Lily watched him disappear into the foliage, holding her floral staff carefully. Oh, how she hoped he could succeed…

“Khe he he…”

A quiet, low laugh came from behind her. Slowly looking over her shoulder, she was able to see the sound’s creator right away. “You reeeaaaally think LOVE could uncorrupt poison magic?” Licorice Cookie stood with his scythe in his hands, covered by his sleeves. He laughed in a manner similar to barking as he sneered, “This isn’t some fairy tale, cookie.” He laughed again, a corrupt taunt.

“Don’t try to corrupt me too, Licorice. A white lily is a pure, unadulterated bloom.” She said evenly, not looking away from the corrupt cookie.

“Oh, I don’t do aaany corrupting, Queen Lily. That is all on the kid.” He put his hands in front of his face and laughed. “I just happened to hear your altercation with that- warrior of light,” He spat the last words, “And got a bit… curious.”

“If you have nothing good to say, leave, Licorice.” Lily said, no emotion on her face.

His deep, low laugh was ominous and threatening as he spoke. “The magic as black as night will prevail, queen...” As he finished, he descended back into the foliage.

White Lily watched him leave and only let herself slacken when the last traces of his presence disappeared. Evil cookies like Licorice have no place to be around her.

Even so, she couldn’t help but ponder what he said. Oh, she hoped she gave Madeleine the right prompting...

* * *

Running aimlessly through the forest, Madeleine found that the healing Lily granted had not restored his stamina completely as his leg muscles began protesting. He wasn’t sure if Espresso had wandered from his place in the forest, or quite what the mage would be looking for if he had, but he was willing to look as long as he needed.

After a prolonged amount of running, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be easy. Espresso didn’t seem to want to come to Madeleine that time, so he'd be looking alone. For a moment, the warrior slowed down. He opened up his satchel and pulled out the spell book, Espresso’s personal spell book. The front only said “Dark Magic,” and the back was just a passage about what it was. Still walking at a slow pace, Madeleine pulled the book open. He flipped through the pages, only lightly scanning the words, considering he didn’t understand dark magic either way. He doubted that he could get a clue from the mage’s notes, but it was worth a try. When the categories of spells changed from necessary-to-learn-spells to custom spells that Espresso himself had put in, he started noticing… pictures. “Is Essy a doodler..?” He mumbled to himself, examining the photos on each spell page. It started off as just tiny drawings of Espresso’s pet, or of the mage himself, or tiny still life doodles of cups or mugs. But Madeleine slowly started noticing little doodles of… himself. At first it was just simple doodles of Madeleine with tiny captions, like “How self absorbed…” or “Light magic, really?” In Espresso’s handwriting, and the warrior chalked them up to the doodles being from when the two first met. But the drawings changed to ones of him and Espresso together, or just drawings of him with small hearts. The captions were softer now, “My sweet Madelle,” and “I’m glad we’ve met.”

“Essy…” Madeleine said under his breath, before smiling widely, feeling his heart flutter. Stopping abruptly and shutting the book, he looked up from it, tense. He had to find Espresso. He had to find his Essy.

The warrior wasn’t going to let himself be distracted again. He tucked the book back into the satchel and started running again, but now he figured he could try a little harder. Even with no clues granted from the spellbook, he was more determined than ever to locate and restore his lost love. He cupped his gloved hands over his mouth, took a deep breath, and started calling out. “Essy! Espresso, love, where are you?!”

He knew love was the way to uncorrupt his fiancé. So he started quick, using his usual pet names and affectionates.

“Espresso, where are you, love?! Essy!” He yelled repetitively, not willing to stop for even a second.

“Madelle.” Not willing to stop… with the exception of that. Madeleine paused for a moment. He knew better now than he did earlier to stifle his enthusiasm at the sound of that imposter tone.

“Espresso.” He said back, looking over his shoulder before turning around, cape swirling around his feet. The mage floated just barely above the ground, his arms crossed with a stern face.

“I thought I’d told you to go. Do you heed so foolish as to come again?” Espresso glared down at his fiancé, and that’s when Madeleine noticed that his purple eyes seemed to have... an ominous glow to them. The slight fog in the woods didn’t make it any better.

Madeleine didn’t respond to his corrupt lover. Instead, he reached for his satchel again, pulling out the spellbook. “Essy, this isn’t you… You’re a dark mage, not a user of evil.” He held the cover of the book up, clear enough to read. He kept his body steady, refusing to let anxiety bubble up now.

Espresso set foot on the ground with a quiet whoosh, his expression uncharacteristically intense. He hissed his words, and little tendrils of purple smoke curled around his teeth, “Even so, every cookie believes that my breed of magic is evil. If it cannot be accepted, there is no other path than to embrace it.” He glared at his lover again. But to Madeleine’s pain, the glare was full of nothing but pure hatred. “You are just the same, Madeleine. Rejecting the sincerity of dark magic…”

The warrior bit his lip, feeling as though he should plan his next words very carefully. Each word that came from his lips was slow to arrive after the last. “I’m not here for a fight. I just want my lover back.”

The corrupted mage stared blankly over at the warrior. For a moment, Madeleine thought he could be pondering what he said. But then, a sly smile came across Espresso’s face; such an expression felt so bizarre to see there, framed by the mage’s soft dark locks and dark-framed eyewear. With grandiose flourishes, the mage flexed his fingers rhythmically. “Well, I’m afraid-“ He stepped forward and held his hand up, a blaze of magic appearing in his palm. His declaration came out like a roar, “-That’s something you’ll have to FIGHT FOR!”

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Madeleine was instinctively raising his shield against an attack. A blaze of poisonous magic burst upon contact with his shield of light, which he promptly thrust forward to knock Espresso away. When he looked past his shield, he saw Espresso’s eyes - wide eyed, deep purple and thick with a corrupted evil. Madeleine didn’t want to hurt his love, but it seemed his lover’s determination to hurt him was going to make that idea unrealistic. He couldn’t use only his shield for long, but the idea of raising a blade to the mage felt so wrong that his breath caught at the mere trace of it.

“Essy, you can’t do this-!” He yelled, his voice breaking in his throat. He’d thought himself tough, but he supposed even the toughest warrior could break under the affairs of love.

“And why not?” Espresso replied crossly, keeping up a constant barrage of poisonous magic. “What can YOU do to stop me?!” He spat, and it hurt Madeleine to see him acting out like that.

“Because this isn’t what YOU’RE like, Essy!” The warrior yelled back, still shielding the magic away. “I love you, Espresso. You can’t do this!”

Madeline bolted forward, discarding his shield when he got close in favor of grabbing Espresso’s arms before he could raise them again. Espresso’s magic flickered and the streams stopped momentarily. Madeleine met his fiancé’s gaze, praying that White Lily was right.

He just had to show his love.

That was all he had to do, and that would all be over.

With a brief breath, Madeleine wrapped Espresso in a tight, restrictive hug as he attempted a kiss. The corrupted mage writhed in the strong knight’s grip, which only made his fiancé bring him closer, enveloping the dark mage in his sweet, vanilla scent. Even though he knew that he was trying to save him, forcing his love into the action felt wrong, as if he were betraying him somehow despite it being an affectionate gesture. His breath caught as poisonous smoke found its way into his windpipe and he broke away to try and breathe. Lacking much range of movement, Espresso stared at Madeleine, shivering with rage with pupils thinner than paper as the foreign magic ran wild in his systems.

Espresso hissed, and noxious gas slipped through slightly parted lips. “Madelle,” his words came out like a lion’s growl as the knight’s head began to throb, and it only evolved into what seemed like a roar,  _ “Release me at once so I can send you back to the Oven where you came from!” _

Espresso threw what weight he could into Madeleine, attempting to knock him off balance. However, it was more from the shock of his lover’s words that his grip faltered. Espresso’s hands snapped up, a mixture of his own and Poison Mushroom’s magic spiking out from his fingers like sparks. Even so, the poison-heavy Madeleine was able to pull Espresso back to him, feeling the heat flare up by the sides of his neck. His vision was blurred terribly as waves of nausea overtook the desperate knight. He was forced to back up and cried out as the vexed mage forced more magic against his armour. Madeleine dropped to his knees and then onto his side, lightly whimpering with tears flowing freely from his smoky eyes. He laid there, looking pitifully defeated. Stubbornly, he reached in the direction where he thought his lover was standing for he lacked the vision to properly locate him.

Madeleine groaned as he was nudged onto his back by something smooth and cold. Dimly, he heard a cry; it sounded unsure of why it was so anguished, as if it denied its own existence. Something dropped beside him with a thud and put what felt like a hand on Madeleine’s chest while using the other to raise the knight’s torso up off from the ground. The weight from his chest gently ran up to his face, cupping one of his cheeks. His one remaining thought came out as a murmur, hoarse and faint, “E-Essie?”

His fiancé answered with a kiss, soft and apologetic. Madeleine did his best to return the gesture, smiling weakly but still relieved. Espresso said something aloud that the knight could not translate, and he opened his mouth to try and respond anyway when a wash of pure magic that felt rather familiar. His senses suddenly came back, and he was stunned at the sudden amount of energy that he now had. Madeleine sat up, Espresso’s arms wrapped around his torso. Looking past the fluffy, dark hair of the cookie who was now snuggling up to Madeleine’s side as if he was afraid he was going to disappear, Maddie found the source of his newfound energy.

“White Lily Cookie?”

The ancient queen nodded with a slightly sheepish smile, “Do you feel better now, dear knight?”

Ruffling his fiancé’s hair - his hand being removed rather quickly, much to his amusement - without looking away from the lady, he nodded with a smile, “Thanks to you, we’re both much better.” He glanced down to see Espresso looking up at him with two wet eyes brimming with guilt and kissed his love’s forehead. Espresso, sighing, readjusted his wonky glasses and leaned heavily against his knight.

“Do you need assistance getting out of the forest?”

After a moment’s consideration, both cookies agreed that she should guide them, and the three walked off together, two of said three never leaving each other’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that this ending was decent; I think I may have wrapped it up too quickly. :'> Even so, let me know what you think, and don't forget to show StarryFiction some love!


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